How to Feel Inspired by Ornamental Gardens

For me, guilty pleasure isn’t buying a bag of Doritos or reading People magazine (especially since I have no idea who most celebrities are these days). Instead, I feel sheepish when I grow plants without being able to explain what they’re good for. “Useless” plants is how I got in to gardening in the first place. Around the age of…

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How to Grow Tasty Citrus Outside in Zone 7+ (Tangerines, Grapefruit, Oranges, & More)

On Friday, February 25th we left our Appalachian foothills home at 9:30am and drove to a nursery that grows tangerines, satsuma mandarins, naval oranges, kumquats, grapefruits, and other citrus in an outdoor orchard.  No, not Florida! Even after touring the nursery for over an hour, stopping for lunch, driving slowly through heavy thunderstorms, and navigating rush-hour traffic, we still made…

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How to Find Spring Plant Sales

In all likelihood there are wonderful, inexpensive plant sales happening near you this spring. Good places to check are your Native Plant Society, Master Gardeners Association, local botanical garden, farmers market, nurseries, and local farms. If you live in the Greenville, SC area, here are some of the great places you can get plants this season (apologies that the Upstate…

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How to Grow Vegetables (Archive Directory)

It’s time to plant summer veggies! If you didn’t start transplants early there is no time now — get to a garden center or farmers market and purchase some tomato, eggplant, pepper, artichoke, celery, sweet potato (slips), herbs, and tomatillos before they’re all gone (or stressed from neglect). For beans, cucumbers, melons, squash, pumpkins, okra, corn, and amaranth greens you…

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How to Choose from Garden Catalogs (w/Directory Listing)

(Catalog Link Directory last updated 9/22/2010) I do it for you… Alright, maybe I am addicted to seeds. They are beautiful and each little dormant embryo is ripe with an active daydream for my spring garden. But I am happy to condense my catalog experiences to help out those of you who are overwhelmed by the plentiful selection. First, think…

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